Education and Research – the future at risk

Following on from the Cabinet meeting on Friday to attempt to define, or probably further fudge, its collective approach to the Government’s White Paper on Brexit, it will now be important for the public to get to grips with the detail of what the Prime Minister intends with her proposed formulation of “a new deep, special and comprehensive partnership” between the UK and the EU.  

 

Growing concern over the past weeks has been voiced strongly by the world of business, companies of all sizes, and by Trade Unions.  Lately, the equally profound concern of universities and other higher education institutions has slipped temporarily to the back pages, despite their widely distributed fears about the likely damage to their long term missions in teaching and research.  Student Unions throughout the UK continue to voice their firm opposition to any form of Brexit. The research community, including most recently the Royal Society, has set out its concern about the quality and mobility of researchers and the negative impact of Brexit on present and future investment in research affecting so many sectors of priority importance to the future health of the UK economy and society. I doubt this intention was in the minds of most of those who voted to leave.  

 

It is both ironic and depressing that the growing muddle and fudge around the UK’s strategy for a post-Brexit future should coincide with the release of the European Commission’s exciting  proposals for the next phase of EU development, particularly for the Erasmus programme and the Horizon Europe programme (the research framework programme re-titled) for the period 2021-2027.  

 

By 2020 the Erasmus+ programme will have involved over 9 million students, apprentices and staff.  In view of the great popularity and success of the programme as an iconic world brand, and a trusted way for European students to study abroad, the European Commission has now proposed the doubling of its budget to 30 billion Euros for the period 2021-2027.  This will permit further deepening and broadening of the programme from its original inter-university base to cover initial and further vocational education and training, building the 21st century profile and capacity of schools, and investment in youth entrepreneurial initiatives and youth volunteering across the EU.  

 

At the same time, the European Commission has also proposed that the budget for Horizon Europe, the EU’s programme of investment in research and innovation, should be increased to 100 billion Euros, the highest absolute increase ever to the well known research framework programme.  Horizon Europe is designed to make Europe a front runner in market-creating innovation, launching EU-wide research and innovation missions to boost the scientific, economic and societal impact of EU policy funding, and enhance European competitiveness and growth potential.

 

The programme will build on and expand the work of the European Research Council, the Marie Curie Fellowships and reinforce the Euratom programme.  Most significantly, it will underpin the EU’s collective effort to address global challenges with a clear focus on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and to assist in the implementation of global commitments – such as the Paris Accord – through effective joint action. Over half of the total budget will be devoted to tackling global challenges, with overall target of 25% of this expenditure to support climate objectives and eco-innovation. The special focus of Horizon Europe in respect of sustainable development and climate change will be complemented by the Erasmus programme, which will fund strategic and cross-disciplinary collaboration between universities on this theme, whilst strengthening and modernising higher education institutions across the EU.  

 

Setting a new level of ambition for Europe’s global leadership in higher education development, science and innovation, both the future Erasmus and Horizon Europe programmes, working in synergy, will target international cooperation on an unprecedented scale.  It is now proposed that they will strengthen cooperation with ‘third countries’ which have a proven STI (Science, Technology and Innovation) capacity, striving for reciprocal forms of collaboration. Participation of any third country in these EU programmes will require the signature of a new association agreement which will be subject to very specific conditions set by the EU.  

 

Post-Brexit, the UK will fall into this category as a third country and this will be the route to pursue the Government‘s  stated intention to continue to be involved in Horizon Europe and Erasmus “as a full partner”.

 

However, the conditions set by the Commission include:

 

1. a fair balance regarding the contributions and benefits of participating in these programmes;
2. financing of participation and the associated administrative costs; and
3. exclusion from involvement in decision making about the programme.

 

Though “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”, there still remains a possibility, if the UK argues so in its forthcoming White Paper, for such continuing participation as part of the overall UK- EU new partnership agreement.  But even this prospect will in no way match the advantages of the present situation in which the UK, as a Member State, has clearly influenced the priorities of the programmes, has often provided the leading and coordinating partner in the funded projects, and, in respect of the current Horizon 2020, has paid in 20% less than it has received in funding – even without trying to calculate the value to the economy of the science the cooperation has produced.  Moreover, the EU reserves the right to exclude third countries from parts of the programme where its economic or security interests might be threatened. Look at the row over future UK participation in the Galileo satellite project to see what this might mean. Involvement as a third country partner would therefore be a much inferior deal to what we currently enjoy.

 

As the call for a “people’s vote” intensifies day by day, this is the moment for all those who attach importance to the UK capacity to invest in high quality research, education and skills development , together with the research community, the university and higher and further  education sector throughout the UK, as well as students and young people of all ages, to stand up once again to voice their opposition to the negative dynamics and impact of Brexit.

 

Photo by Hal Gatewood on Unsplash

 

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